


if you ever want to be in love (i'll come around)

by eversall



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Glee AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 21:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11365545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eversall/pseuds/eversall
Summary: “And all your tears will subside,” She sings softly, her voice quieting down as the music lowers to just a single guitar again. Simon and Jace are standing by the lamp, and Jace looks at Simon, drinking in the sight of him crossing his arms and bumping shoulders with Jace, happily singing. “And all your tears, will dry.”.It’s serenades week in Musical Performance 113, the slightly less exciting college version of Glee Club. Simon’s decided to woo Jace with this; Jace has decided to have anexistential crisiswith it.





	if you ever want to be in love (i'll come around)

**Author's Note:**

> hey!! bear with me while i update my ao3 with everything that i've written on tumblr over the next week and get through the backlog of comments i haven't responded to. MEANWHILE here's a glee au i wrote for [ anne ](http://sunlewis.tumblr.com/) because she's an actual angel on earth and her love for alberto rosende and her friendship has gotten me through so many days <3 
> 
> ALSO huge shoutout to [ jess ](http://softjimon.tumblr.com/) for editing and encouraging this she's my idol.
> 
> come yell at me on [ tumblr ](http://eversall.tumblr.com/) about shadowhunters, or just chill, or give me prompts!! i promise i don't bite and i provide some Quality Laughs.

“I’m gonna do it,” Simon says confidently as he walks into the classroom, fiddling with the strap of his backpack, Clary nodding encouragingly next to him, “I’m gonna do it, it’s gonna happen today, it’s - “ He catches sight of Jace sprawled insolently across one of the chairs, running a hand through his hair as he smirks down at his phone, uncaring and unfairly good-looking.

“It’s  _not_ happening, nope, no.” He hisses under his breath, turning on his heel and intending to just skip class, when a hand curls into his collar and yanks him backwards. 

“Oh no you don’t.” Magnus says, tugging him into the room despite his protests. “I didn’t spend all weekend helping you arrange this song to have you chicken out now.” 

Luke looks up in mild surprise as Magnus drops an indignant Simon onto a chair in front of the staggered audience seats, bodily dragging his backpack from him and thrusting his guitar into his hands instead. 

“So...you’ll start us off today, Simon?” Luke asks, amused, and Simon groans and briefly buries his head in his hands. 

“Simon’s  _singing_?” Jace asks with glee in his voice, and Simon raises his head to glare at Jace and flip him off. Alec rolls his eyes and sinks further into his seat. He’s only in this class because Simon agreed to do archery with him last quarter, so now he owes Simon and is stuck here - though if the way his glance always slides to Magnus is any indication, Simon  _definitely_ judged right in gently nudging his friend and his roommate into the same musical performance class. “Sure you can handle the pressure, Lewis?”

“Well  _I_  can’t wait.” Izzy says loyally, shutting her bio-psych textbook decisively and leaning forward, absently slinging an arm around Clary’s shoulder. Clary looks at Izzy for a beat too long, and Simon briefly entertains himself with the wonderful thought that almost  _none_ of them are straight. Raj, maybe, though with the way he’s so  _aggressive_ about his heterosexuality at Victor, that dick that deigns to show up to class once in a while, Simon’s starting to doubt even that. 

“Yeah, I’ve got something prepared.” Simon clears his throat, and Luke gives him an encouraging nod as Magnus sits down at the piano and cracks his knuckles, only to be shoved aside by Raphael, who grumpily slides onto the piano bench and glares at Simon like Simon just asked him to sell his soul to Satan. 

“I’ll play.” He grumps out as Magnus doubles over laughing, going to claim a seat near Alec. Simon grins, remembering how he caught Raphael practicing the piano accompaniment to his piece when Magnus asked him to. They’re all good friends, even if they don’t act like it. 

“I’m here, I’m here, don’t start without me!” Maia gasps, sliding into the room just as it turns two, and she collapses onto a chair. “Exams are the worst. Okay, Simon, now you can sing.”

“Thanks.” Simon deadpans as she grins at him, and then he clears his throat, fiddling lightly with the strings before he looks up and locks eyes with Jace, who’s still smirking at him. 

“I, uh.” He pauses, and then says in a rush, “This is for you.” 

“What - “ Jace flushes bright,  _bright_  pink, and Simon chooses to ignore it, aggressively launching into the first few chords of a stripped down piano-guitar version of For the Love, a song that he heard at a party and immediately thought  _how can I make this sadder_?

“ _You say the word and I’ll go wild_ ,” Simon starts softly, his voice low, “ _start a fire in a heartbeat_.” Jace is slowly shifting back in his chair, straightening from his slouch as he regards Simon with a blank face, the blush still lingering on his cheeks. “ _If you get drunk then so will I, crazy highs if we need it.”_

“ _The things we do - “_ Simon says as he launches into the chorus, joined by Raphael’s low timbre as he harmonizes  _for the love for the love_. 

“ _I put you through_ ,  _for the love for the love_ ,” He continues, and Clary’s higher notes join in, swaying her head slightly, “ _I’m hurt by you, but then I’m healing - I get this feeling, we can leave but we don’t - “_

 _“For the love, for the love.”_ And now they’ve all caught on, even Alec, and they jump in with backing vocals, turning the chorus loud and letting the sound echo through the classroom. Jace is the only one not saying anything, frozen in his chair. Simon feels his heart pounding away in his chest, adrenaline running hot in his veins, and he’s too far in now to stop and besides he - Jace means something special to him, through all the teasing and the late nights spent exploring campus, shoulders brushing, Jace’s infectious grin lighting up the darkness. 

“ _We run these wires, until they fall,”_ Simon’s voice echoes, strong, as everyone else lets their voices fade out for his bridge. Only Maia continues, seamlessly wrapping his melody in a hum. “ _We’ll keep on crawling back until we lost it all. Bask in the glory - the highs and lows - no matter how far gone we are, we don’t let go.”_

He strums his guitar, lets a moment of silence play out, and then launches back into the chorus, the room swelling with everyone smiling slightly as they sway to the melody in their seats and look at each other, singing  _for the love for the love_ as genuinely as they can. 

It feels good, his heart soaring on the high of an  _amazing_ performance, and he barely gets the chance to look at Jace before applause starts, and he’s being clapped on the back by Magnus and Raphael, and then Clary and Izzy and Maia are all bounding up to him, and Luke starts talking over all of them, assigning them into small groups. 

Simon murmurs  _thanks, thanks_ , and then bodily shoves his way through his classmates, swinging his guitar by it’s strap to rest against his back, walking up to Jace, who’s biting his lip and looking at Simon with an inscrutable look in his eyes. 

“So.” Simon says, his voice overly cheerful. “What did you think?” Out of the corner of his eye he sees Alec get up, presumably to leave them some privacy. 

“I’M STRAIGHT.” Jace says loudly,  _too_  loudly, and Alec pauses - as well as everyone else in the room. Simon stares blankly at Jace, thinks maybe he misheard. 

He hears the sound of Magnus’ whispered  _what the fuck_  and realizes, no, he heard correctly. 

“You’re - okay.” Simon says, and his heart is dropping, dropping back into a sealed pit of  _hell_ where he swears it’s never coming out from again because  _this_ is what he gets for it. “Right, right. Okay. That’s cool.” 

Jake Peralta’s  _cool cool cool cool cool cool cool_ monologue pops into his head, running on repeat as he slowly backs away and grabs his backpack. 

“I’m just gonna - go!” He announces brightly, and then he’s turned and is  _sprinting_ out of class, blindly making his way to the apartment he shares with Magnus and Raphael. He’s sure Luke will excuse him this once from class, since he just publicly got his heart torn to shreds. 

.

The room erupts in chaos once Simon leaves, everyone whispering and staring at him, and Jace’s eyes dart around nervously as his hands fiddle with the edge of his seat. He has  _no_  idea what to do, he’s  _so_ out of his depth - and he can’t seem to shake the feeling of Simon’s eyes, bright and honest as he’d sang. His voice is so fucking gorgeous, it always distracts Jace. 

“What was that?” Alec asks, staring at him. Maia’s glaring at him from where she’s huddled in a corner with Gretel and Izzy and Clary, but that’s nothing new. 

“What was what.” Jace says, desperately trying to play it cool. “Nothing’s happening. Simon and I are just friends. Very friendly.” 

“Okay.” Alec says, and continues to stare at him like he’s grown a second head. He thinks he hears Izzy humming  _two bros, singing to each other, five feet apart cause they’re not gay_. He wants to tell her to stop, but he’s also afraid of opening his mouth and accidentally blurting out  _Simon is so pretty and my heart goes a mile a minute around him what do I do_?

It’s fine. It’s all fine. He said he was straight, which is just - great. It’s a lie, because he’s out to Alec and Izzy, but  _whatever_. Whatever. 

He might be panicking, just a little. 

“Well,” Luke says, clearing his throat, “why don’t you all go work in your small groups? This is going to be a two week assignment, so everyone’s performances must be done by Wednesday for the group number next Friday.” 

“Next Friday’s the game.” Raphael says shortly, and Alec and Jace nod. Luke cuts them a look. 

“I’m well aware.” He says, and they all sheepishly smile. He  _is_  their coach, after all, as well as their musical teacher. “It’ll be a pretty laid-back performance, graded only on participation. No big theatrics.” He makes a shooing motion with his hands. “Off you go, work on those serenades.” 

Serenades? 

 _Serenades_?

As Alec tugs him away, he looks at the board to see that this week’s theme is, in fact,  _serenades_. 

Crap. 

.

Simon spends most of the evening curled up in bed, watching Brooklyn 99 on his phone. At least the nerds on  _that_  show get dates. Sometime around dinner, the jingle of keys at the door gets his attention, and he looks up in time to see Magnus and Raphael step in and drop their bags off, looking at him expectantly. 

“Dinner at Taki’s, remember?” Magnus asks, and Simon groans. 

“Go without me.” He waves them off. “Bring me back a milkshake and a hamburger.  _Please_.”

“Simon.” Raphael sighs. “It’s gonna be okay.” 

“Sure, if the floor opens and I disappear  _right now_.” Simon moans, and they both look at him, something strange in their eyes. 

“Alright.” Magnus finally says. “You get one night to mope, and then tomorrow you’re going to move on. I have a feeling your boy might surprise you.” 

“Whatever.” Simon says, already putting his earphones back in and beginning to ignore them. They leave, and he spends another hour like that before a loud knock on the door jolts him out of bed. He sits up and frowns, because he’s still just in his old sweatpants and no shirt, but whatever. Whoever it is gets to deal with sad, mopey Simon. 

He  _immediately_  regrets that decision when he opens the door to see Jace standing there with take-out bags from Taki’s in his hand. Jace opens his mouth, looks somewhere around Simon’s navel, looks back up his eyes, closes his mouth, and flushes a deep, deep red. Simon manfully resists the urge to shriek and cover his nipples. 

“Uh, hey - heyyy, buddy.” Simon says, making finger guns and wincing at himself. “What’s - what’s up?” 

“You weren’t at dinner.” Jace says, and now he’s looking at the ceiling, anywhere but Simon, and despite the situation it’s entirely amusing to see Jace talking to the roof. “So I got it to-go for both of us.” 

“You uh, you didn’t have to do that.” Simon says, opening the door and letting him in. He darts to the bedroom as Jace sets the food on the counter and grabs a sweater, tugging it on and changing his ratty sweatpants to jeans before coming back out. “Magnus and Raphael were just going to bring me food.” 

“Yeah, but I thought that maybe. Maybe we should talk?” Jace says, finally looking at Simon, and it’s so unlike Jace to be like this, unsure and hesitant, and Simon sighs because  _this_ is what he wanted to avoid. 

“It’s fine, Jace.” he says tiredly, trying to smile at him. “We’re friends, it’s chill, right?” 

“Yeah.” Jace says, and then he just blinks at Simon, not saying anything. For one, brief second Simon has the absurd thought that Jace might kiss him - and then it passes, and Simon raises an eyebrow. 

“Cat got your tongue?” He asks.  Jace looks at him. 

“Where  _are_ the cats?” He asks, looking around. Simon shrugs. 

“Chairman and Church are probably asleep on Magnus’ bed.” He says, and then he smirks. “Afraid they’ll chase you out again?” 

“That was  _once.”_ Jace says, frowning, and Simon laughs. “Stop  _laughing,_ they’re actually devils on earth.” 

“They’ve never ran  _me_ out.” Simon says, opening the bags of food. “Ooh, curly fries.” 

“That’s because you probably feed them catnip, you druggie.” Jace says accusingly. He slaps Simon’s hand away from opening the carton. “Let’s go eat on the Theater terrace.”

“That’s so  _far_.” Simon whines, but he’s already grabbing his coat and his keys. He bites his lip as Jace cautiously peeks into Magnus’ bedroom and makes little cooing noises at the cats in there, thinking that he can pretend well enough that he’s not in love with Jace, but that isn’t going to make it any less true, and that kind of sucks. 

“Ready?” Jace asks, looking back at him, and Simon grins and grabs one of the bags, leading both of them out and locking the door. 

“Race you there!” He calls cheerfully, and Jace swears at him as Simon bolts off, laughing and cradling the cartons of food to his chest. 

“You left me with the  _drinks_!” Jace’s voice calls out accusingly behind him, and Simon cackles as he keeps running through campus to the terrace. It’s mostly empty, save for the sounds of their feet pounding on the pavement as they weave past the student resource buildings and skid to a stop in front of the theater, taking a sharp right turn to collapse onto on of the tables that overlooks the rest of the campus. It’s his and Jace’s spot, one they found a few months ago and always seem to gravitate towards when it’s only the two of them hanging out. 

“Mmm, fries.” Simon sighs in happiness as he cracks one of the containers open. “Thanks, dude.” 

“No problem.” Jace digs his phone out and starts flicking through it. “Mind if I play some music?” 

“Keep it low.” Simon says, gesturing around them. “Don’t want campus police citing us for a noise complaint.” 

“So little faith in me.” Jace mutters as he sets his phone down, something classical beginning to slowly play, the melody quiet in the night. “Have I ever steered you wrong?” 

“Constantly.” Simon retorts, digging around in the bags and unearthing straws for both of them, sticking one in each of their milkshakes. “Cheers.” Jace silently clinks his cup against Simon’s, smiling slightly at him, and the moonlight catches on his eyelashes; Simon has to look away. 

“When?” Jace asks, amused, and Simon snorts incredulously as he unwraps his burger and looks at the campus sprawled below them, lights twinkling here and there. 

“Just two weeks ago you convinced me to go swimming at two in the morning. We were  _both_  sick for days.” He reminds him, and Jace hums, doesn’t say anything. They eat in silence, for a while, and Simon kicks his feet up on the railing encircling the terrace. It’s quiet, and peaceful; Simon wants to stay like this forever. 

He looks over at Jace, who’s been uncharacteristically quiet, only to find him staring back at Simon already, his eyes glittering in the night. Simon smiles, and Jace half-smiles back at him, turning to look over the terrace. 

“Yeah, but you always tag along anyway.” He remarks, and Simon laughs. 

“I  _do_.” He says. “Brain damage, maybe.” 

“That’s never been in question, Lewis.” Jace says, leaning over and rapping his knuckles against Simon’s forehead. “You’re something, alright.” 

“Pot, kettle.” Simon says dismissively, and they settle into companionably bickering, comfortable and familiar. 

.

Jace thinks he might slowly be going insane, because Simon’s  _everywhere._ He always is, but this week it’s suddenly more than usual; it feels like Simon is taking up every corner of his mind, drowning out every thought he has with his  _smile_  and his  _laugh_ and those goddamn bright eyes of his. 

“When are you gonna stop pretending you’re straight?” Alec asks him quietly as they make their way to musical performance. They have practice after this, and Jace groans quietly at the thought of how hard Coach Garroway drives them. After next week’s game, they’ll finally get a break. It’s not championships, because they didn’t make it that far, but it’ll determine if they come third or fourth in the league, and that’s still a pretty big deal to them. 

“I’m not really preten - hey, I’ll do it when you stop pretending Simon isn’t your friend.” He retorts, pleased with himself for coming up with such a snappy comeback, and Alec pinches the bridge of his nose like he can’t quite believe he’s still talking to Jace. 

“I am taking  _musical performance_  for him.” He stresses. “What about that makes you think I’d take it for any other reason than not breaking a promise to Lewis?” 

“Didn’t he take archery with you?” Jace asks, and Alec shrugs. “Also, didn’t he only recommend this class because that cute chemistry TA is in it?” 

“We don’t talk about  _that.”_ Izzy’s voice echoes, and they turn to wait for her to catch up. Her hair is wet and she’s in fresh clothes from when she left the apartment this morning; she must have just had cheer practice. 

“Where’s your number one fan, a redhead that just  _watches_ while you practice because she  _happens_  to have a free period?” Alec asks slyly, smirking, and Izzy flushes. 

“I just saved you from being interrogated about the chem TA and this is what I get?” She asks, indignant, and Alec laughs and lets her hook an arm in his elbow. She hooks her other arm in Jace’s elbow, dragging them both along, and they bicker the rest of the way to class. 

 _Serenades_  is still written in large letters over the board, and when they get in, to their surprise Alec makes a beeline for the performance seat. Izzy and Jace raise an eyebrow at him, and he shakes his head. 

“Not a  _word_.” He threatens them, but the set of his shoulders is familiar - determination, and when this sort of mood overtakes Alec he doesn’t really back down from it. 

“Wouldn’t  _dream_ of it.” Jace says, smiling, as he sinks into one of the seats. Simon skids into class a moment later, breathless as he collapses into the chair next to Jace. 

“Whoo, Alec!” He shouts gleefully, and Alec flips him off without looking from where he’s fiddling with the strings of a guitar. “I helped him arrange the piece.”

"Alec! _Our_ Alec!" Izzy sighs theatrically in her seat, slouching backwards and pretending to faint. "It's so distressing when children grow up - "

"If he glares any harder at you he'll break something." Clary remarks, coming to sit in the row below. Izzy immediately vaults into the same row, neatly sliding into the seat next to her, and Jace watches with a grin as Clary giggles at that.

"Ten bucks says they'll be together by the end of next week." Simon says, and Jace eyes him up.

"I'll take that bet, and say it's three weeks from now." Jace says, and they shake on it. Simon's hand is warm, his palm soft, and Jace is struck with the absurd urge to hold on, to feel the safety of being anchored by the other man.

"Jace?" Simon asks, and Jace blinks, pulling his hand away and sitting up in his chair as Coach Garroway comes in. "You okay there, man?"

"Peachy." Jace says, nudging Simon companionably. "So what's Alec singing?"

"Oh man, it's so great, just really cliche and - " Simon sighs, running a hand across the top of his hair, something pensive in his face. "It's one of the sweetest songs I know. I wanted to - well, it doesn't matter now."

Garroway calls them all to attention, so Simon turns to face the front, but Jace can fill in the blanks - Simon wanted to sing it, or have it sung to him, and he thought he'd get that but he didn't, and now he's given up on the chance and let Alec do the song.  

And it's because of Jace.

Even when Alec starts singing _A summer rain is passing over_ , his voice low and hesitant, all Jace can think of is the look on Simon's face, the wistfulness in his eyes. From beside him, Simon starts to harmonize, and it makes his heart sink even further in his chest.

Alec hasn't said that the song is for anyone in particular, but the way he's looking at Magnus is explanation enough, his eyes surprisingly earnest and determined. Alec always does see things through, unexpectedly persistent, and in this there's no exception; Magnus has a soft, stunned expression on his face, something terribly vulnerable there that Jace feels like the rest of them aren't meant to see.

 _Don't you know, you stop the room_ Alec sings, and Jace picks up the melody and absently sings _oh, oh_ after every line, echoing Alec's baritone. He hears Izzy and Clary harmonizing, reciting the lyrics perfectly, and the entire room seems to be holding it's breath, only the soft strum of the guitar and various voices weaving across each other.

 _You must be my once in a lifetime, once in a lifetime_ echoes through the room, Alec's chest rising ever so slightly, and it suddenly clicks in Jace's mind, and he looks at Simon, at his stupidly endearing face and the way he's entirely absorbed in supporting Alec's performance and thinks _my once in a lifetime._

_._

“No, don’t tell me.” Clary says as she drops into the seat across from Simon. “You're practicing to be mopey groupie number two in the theater play, and that's why you're sitting outside of Jace’s class, waiting for him.”

“I’m sitting here because he asked me to.” Simon says indignantly, marking his place in his jazz composition workbook and setting it aside. “It's our thing, Wednesday smoothie runs after he finishes class. You know this.” Clary looks at him and raises an eyebrow, sighing.

“You know I love you, Simon, but this seems like you're just torturing yourself.” She tells him, her voice gentle. “I mean, he... hurt you, didn't he? Why aren't you thinking about that at all?” Simon groans and thunks his head down on the table.

“Because I’m a masochist.” He mutters morosely, before he straightens up and regards Clary. “I don't think... he feels _something._ If he needs time to work through that, it's okay. I’ll wait.”

“Simon, I just - you deserve to be happy too.”

“I know.” Simon looks up as the doors of the lecture hall open and students begin to stream out. He and Clary stand, gathering their things. “I'm just not ready yet to give up hope.”

“You have always been an optimist with people.” Clary smiles at him and gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “See you later, Si.”

“Later, Clary.” He says, waving as she walks away, and he turns to see Jace lingering a few steps away, a strange expression on his face.

“What was Clary doing here?” Jace asks instead of a greeting, and Simon gives him a look.

“Hello to you too. Yeah, it's been a pain waiting in the sun for you, thanks for asking. She just wanted to -”

“If it's such a pain you're free to leave.” Jace snaps, his shoulders hunching forward. Simon frowns and reaches a hand out to clasp Jace’s shoulder.

“Hey, I didn't mean it like that.” He says, puzzled at Jace's reaction. “You all right?”

“Fine.” Jace sighs and looks at Simon, running a hand through his hair. “Smoothies? You wouldn't believe the stupid question someone asked today.”

“ _Try me.”_ Simon groans, falling step besides the taller man as they make their way across campus. He almost forgets about Jace’s odd behavior as they get their drinks and meander towards the football field, where Jace has practice in another hour, until Jace abruptly brings it up.

“What _did_ Clary want? When she was talking to you when my class ended?” Jace asks, idly leaning against the bleacher stands in the shade. Simon leans on the one opposite to him and makes a face.

“Some very inspirational stuff about being happy.” He says, which technically isn't a lie. Jace snorts.

“You're telling me that under the bleachers next to the entire colleges worth of hot dog wrappers and soda cans _isn't_ your happy place?” He asks sardonically, waving a hand around them. Simon grins and looks down at his smoothie cup, fiddling with the straw.

“You're right, it's the _happiest_ place.” He says. “She’s just looking out for me, that's all.”

“You're not?” Jace asks, and when Simon looks up he’s suddenly much closer than he was before, having pushed off the bleacher stand and come to a halt right in front of Simon. Past the smell of dirt and metal baking in the sun, he can suddenly smell Jace’s cologne, something mild and vaguely sweet. “Happy, I mean?”

When his eyes meet Jace's, it feels like all the airs been sucked out of his lungs at the intensity reflected in the blue-brown of Jace’s gaze. He’s drowning, lost in the uncertainty of _Jace_ and whatever’s happening right now, close enough to be able to reach out and touch and _take_ everything he's ever wanted.

“Jace.” He says, unsure and Jace's eyes flick briefly to his lips, the glance so fleeting that Simon's half-sure he imagined it. “I don’t - I - “

He trails off. What is he supposed to say? What does Jace want to hear? What game is he playing?

“She’s right.” Jace says hoarsely, his voice quiet between them. “You deserve to be happy.”

He steps back, and Simon releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding, suddenly _aching_ to hold Jace close and never let him go. He misses Jace, which is ridiculous, because he’s right in front of Simon, looking lost and angry.

“I’m gonna head over to the lockers to get to practice early.” Jace says, and there’s a stillness between them that’s never been there before. “Stay and watch the practice? Coach always goes easier when Clary and you are there.” Simon smiles lightly at that, strained, and rubs the back of his neck.

“That’s not true, but sure.” He says. “Gotta study for that econ midterm next week, anyway.”

Jace nods, and they both set off. Simon finds a nice shady spot on the bleachers where he can slouch comfortably and still see the football team practicing over the top of his notebook. Clary finds her way to him when the cheer team starts practicing, humming and flipping through her nearly completed portfolio.

“Here’s the one I was looking for.” She says cheerfully, and she pulls one out to hand to him. He looks up from where he’s been furiously working out a supply-demand problem and squints at her.

“Is today just the day where we all stop greeting Simon Lewis? Hi Simon, how’s your day been? How’s your studying going - “

“Don’t be so _dramatic_.” She scolds as she insistently pushes the painting at him. He takes it and looks at it silently for a few moments.

“It’s us.” He says finally. “It’s all of us.”

“Mm-hm.” She nods, looking out at the field. “I asked Izzy out, by the way. Accidentally. I asked her to get coffee, she asked ‘As a date?’ and I panicked and said no, then yes.”

“Smooth.” He says, still staring at the painting. They’re all laughing, walking down the quad with their bags slung over their shoulders. Clary and him are at the center, laughing like idiots. Clary’s hair is flying in the wind, her eyes crinkled with amusement as she looks at Izzy, who has an arm slung around her and is grinning. On Izzy’s other side is Alec, explaining something to Magnus, who’s looking at him with an unbearably fond look on his face. And Simon’s -

Simon’s grinning at Jace, dimples showing in full force, and Jace has a half smile on his face, his hand halfway through the process of fixing his hair, shoulder nudging Simon. He feels a sudden, intense wave of longing hit him as he stares at the painting, at the shades of gold and brown streaked through the canvas, at the warm way they’re all looking at each other.

“Look, we’re maybe not...as good at reading signals as we always think we are.” Clary says quietly. She motions at her painting. “But you know, that doesn’t mean it was bad to try.”

“Yeah?” Simon asks, passing the painting back and shading his eyes from the sun as he looks at the field. Luke’s calling out numbers, and they’re all throwing themselves at each other. The cheerleaders are going through their cool down exercises on the other end of the field, Izzy standing at the front and calling out orders.

“I know I told you you deserve to be happy.” Clary says firmly. “And you _do_ . And I just don’t want you and Jace to mess up the happiness you guys _do_ give each other just because you’re reenacting Romeo and Juliet.”

“I really thought I had a chance.” Simon says quietly, staring down at his econ notes again, unseeing. “I still do, he almost - well, I don’t know what he was doing by the bleachers. He looked like he was going to kiss me.”

Clary puts her arm around him and squeezes him tight, her eyes full of sympathy. On anyone else it annoys him, but on Clary, who has only ever wanted him to be happy, it’s alright.

“You’ll get there, yeah?” She says, and he smiles, feeling a little lighter.

“I will.” He agrees, just as Izzy makes her way to them.

“Hey.” She grins at Clary, and waves at Simon. “I know I’m sweaty and we technically haven’t had a first date yet, but mind a kiss on the cheek?”

“Oh,” Clary sighs dramatically as she gets up, “what _will_ my Mama say at the audacity?” Izzy laughs as she presses a kiss to Clary’s cheek, making a loud smacking noise as she pulls away.

“Hey Lewis!” Jace yells from the edge of the field, leaning  on the fence that separates the bleachers and the grass. “Did you rig the bet so you would win?”

“Can’t help it if you’re slow on the uptake!” Simon hollers back. “Go shower and give me my ten bucks!”

“You _bet_ on us?” Izzy muses. “I’m disappointed in Jace for betting wrong, honestly. And he calls himself my brother.”

“Ah yes, because we all could have predicted Clary tripping over her own words and accidentally asking you out.” Simon says wisely, tapping his nose, and Clary shoves him as he laughs.

They wait for Jace and Izzy to shower, and then they head to the Lightwood’s apartment, amicably chatting. He and Jace are back to their usual rhythm, with Jace obnoxiously flipping his wet hair in Simon’s direction and spraying him with water. It feels good to be back to solid footing with Jace, but there’s an undercurrent of _something_ he can’t quite place, like he’s tiptoeing on the edge of a precipice, something about to happen to throw him off the cliff.

.

Jace can’t stop sneaking glances at Simon as they walk back, his heart unnaturally fast in his chest as he takes in the way Simon looks pensive every now and then, like he’s trying to figure something out. _Fuck_ but Jace has got it bad for him, and it’s _paralyzing_ him with indecision. He doesn’t _do_ this whole thing, not really, and now more than ever he wishes he’d had enough courage to say yes to Simon when he’d been serenaded a week ago.

But if there’s one thing he’s never been good with, he thinks, it’s saying yes. He sees the way Clary and Izzy gravitate toward each other on the walk back to the apartment he and Izzy share with Alec, and it feels like a punch in the gut to see the easy way Izzy seems to adjust her heart to vulnerability. It seems like an insurmountable task to him, an impossible thing to let himself be happy with Simon.

 _Simon_ , who probably doesn’t even want him anymore; it’s all a moot point anyway since he missed his chance -

“Hey, _hey_ , earth to Jace?” Simon asks. “You in there man?”

“‘Course.” Jace says easily, flicking Simon’s shoulder. “I don’t always have my head in the clouds like _some_ people.”

“ _Hey_.” Clary and Simon both exclaim at the same time, and Jace snorts as they both look at each other in surprise and indignation. Izzy laughs as she turns the key in the lock and lets them all into the apartment.

“You’re both the worst daydreamers.” She says fondly, moving to clear some of the takeout containers from yesterday’s dinner off the table. “You could do with coming down from there once in a while so you don’t _trip_ over things.”

“I’ll have you know I’m the epitome of grace.” Simon sniffs haughtily as he sprawls into their ratty armchair, the one they bought from a shifty pre-med student who’d clearly been high when he sold to them.

“Well.” Clary hums, scrolling through her phone, but she doesn’t elaborate and Jace slides onto the armrest of the chair Simon’s on and ruffles his hair.

“Remember that one music department performance where you _broke_ their mic stand?” He asks, and Simon makes a face up at him.

“I was _panicking_.” He says, sighing deeply. There’s clinking from the kitchen, and Izzy comes out with cans of soda, placing them on the counter.

“In case anyone wants one.” She says, and she looks at Clary, who’s staring down at her phone with a thoughtful smile on her face. “What are _you_ doing?”

“Success!” Clary crows at that moment, ignoring Izzy, and she taps her phone and suddenly cheerful guitar music is filtering through the room. The opening chords are familiar, and Jace smiles as Izzy laughs with delight.

“ _My head is stuck in the clouds,_ ” Clary sings, putting her phone down and reaching out to grab Izzy’s hands, “ _she begs me to come down, says - girl, quit fooling around_.”

“ _I told her -_ “ Simon and Jace interject, Simon enthusiastically bouncing in his seat. Izzy laughs and covers her face with her hands, a flush creeping onto her face, as Clary continues “ _I love the view from up here, warm sun, and wind in my ear - “_

 _“We’ll watch the world from above,”_ they sing together, “ _as it turns to the rhythm of love_.”

They look expectantly at Izzy, who sighs and removes her hands from her face, smiling shyly at Clary, and sliding her hands around her waist.

 _“We may only have tonight_ ,” She sings, launching into the chorus, picking Clary up and spinning her as Clary laughs in delight _._ Jace can’t stop the warm feeling from spreading in his chest as he sees his sister happy, the way they can’t seem to hold back the emotion on their faces, and it wells up in him, a fountain of hope that’s sudden and uplifting.

“ _But till the morning sun,”_ He harmonizes, jumping up and spreading his arms wide, winking at Simon and pointing, “ _you’re mine, all mine_.”

“ _Play the music low_ ,” Simon grins, getting into it and jumping to stand on the armchair, one hand clutched to his heart and the other reaching out to Jace standing on the floor, “ _and sway to the rhythm of love_.”

It’s Clary and Izzy’s song, no doubt, as Clary prettily serenades an overjoyed Izzy; but as he and Simon leap around the room and reenact the most dramatic poses they can think of, at one point simply chasing each other around the dinner table while singing backup for Clary, Jace begins to think that _maybe_ \- just _maybe_ \- he can do this.

The fact that Simon is playing around at all, that he’s gamely letting Jace spin him as they chorus _oh, oh, oh_ to Clary’s _she rises, up, like the tide - the moment her lips meet mine_ , his eyes sparkling with laughter and his hair in disarray, is a testament to the kind of person Simon Lewis _is_ , the kind that always shelves his own feeling so everyone can be _happy_ . He’s so brave, and strong, and Jace’s heart stutters in his chest, almost coming to a complete standstill when Simon brushes his fingers against the inside of Jace’s wrist and sings lowly _play the music low_.

The door opens as they sing the last line of the second chorus and Alec and Magnus step through, looking briefly confused, before Magnus’ eyes light up at the song that’s being played.

“ _When the moon is low,”_ He immediately sings, the timbre of his voice rich and melodic as he turns and pulls Alec closer, “ _We can dance in slow motion_.” Alec grins, soft and surprised, and they join the others in the living room, swaying together as Clary tenderly cups Izzy’s face for the last few lines of the bridge.

“ _And all your tears will subside_ ,” She sings softly, her voice quieting down as the music lowers to just a single guitar again. Simon and Jace are standing by the lamp, and Jace looks at Simon, drinking in the sight of him crossing his arms and bumping shoulders with Jace, happily singing. “ _And all your tears, will dry_.”

.

The six of them go out for drinks that night, to toast to Izzy and Clary, and Maia and Raphael join them when they get to the bar. They’re all crammed into a corner booth, pressed against each other and loudly detailing every instance where Clary and Izzy flirted with each other, much to the chagrin of the couple in question. Clary is hiccuping into her glass of beer, mournfully insisting that she’s not _blind,_ and Alec, who’s actually managed to get some alcohol into his system, is trying to solemnly inform her that it’s because she’s too short to really see anything going on at an adult eye level.

“Well she’s _my_ little hobbit, so there.” Izzy says triumphantly to her brother, but this sets off another round of a weepy Clary wailing that she doesn’t want curly hair on her feet, and Simon’s almost _choking_ with laughter at this point. He’s only a little buzzed, trying to keep his drinking to a minimum as he sips patiently at his own glass of beer, and Jace seems to be doing the same, pressed up against Simon’s side and eagerly heckling drunk Clary.

“You’re the perfect height for Simon to use as a mic stand.” Jace says thoughtfully, and Simon nearly chokes on his laughter.

“What, Jace, like you’re the perfect height to use as a pillow to sleep on?” Simon asks, laughing. Jace puffs his chest out proudly.

“You can’t sleep on this,” He says, gesturing to all of himself and nearly hitting Maia in the face, “it’s all _muscles_. It’d be like sleeping on a hardwood floor.”

“Is that what you call it when you get excited? A _hardwood_ floor?” Maia asks, wiggling her eyebrows and leering at Jace. They all chorus with laughter, hollering and making a nuisance of themselves as the loudest table in the bar tonight.

“You’re all horrible.” Jace sighs, and he looks at Simon as Simon starts climbing over everyone stuffed in the booth. “Where are you going?”

“Restroom.” Simon says as he tumbles out of the booth and unsteadily straightens up. They all holler at him as he leaves, and he grins, making his way to the corner of the bar.

On the way back, he sees Alec at the bar counter and detours to him, propping his chin on his hands and staring up at the taller man.

“Hey, hello, wassup.” He says confidently, and Alec snorts.

“Are you drunk?” He asks, and Simon shrugs.

“Very, very, lightly buzzed.” He responds, and he squints at Alec. “You’re not?”

“Sobered up.” Alec agrees. “Just ordering Magnus a drink.”

“ _Yeah_ you are.” Simon grins, winking as he nudges Alec, and Alec half-smiles even as he groans.

“What does that even _mean_?” He asks Simon, and Simon shrugs, eyes tracing the bright blue alcohol on the shelf behind the bar, wondering what it is.

“It means I’m happy for you guys.” He says, and it comes out more wistful than he meant it to, more melancholy, and Alec frowns.

“Listen,” he starts, “about Jace - “

“It’s fine.” Simon hunches his shoulders feeling like all he does these days is repeat that mantra. “ _Really_.”

“No, I mean - look, I know I don’t say this very often, but - Jace didn’t know what he was doing.” Alec says, his voice low.

“When does he ever? You say that all the time.” Simon smirks, and Alec cuts him a look.

“I’m serious.” Alec says softly. “You deserve to be happy.”

There’s a crash, and Alec and Simon both look behind them to see Jace standing there, a glass shattered on the floor by his feet. He looks like he’s been hit by a car, his eyes wide and shocked, and his hands clenched in fists.

“Jace - “ Alec starts, but Jace turns on his heel and walks away faster than either of them can predict; they’re left standing there, stunned, staring at the empty space where Jace was standing only seconds ago.

.

Jace can’t seem to get his mind to work on anything except running an endless loop of Alec telling Simon _You deserve to be happy_ . It just seems so - so simple. _He_ was the one that hurt Simon, that made Simon think that he couldn’t have happiness. What right does he have to even _look_ Simon’s way right now?

Alec and Clary - and possibly the rest of the group - are all right; Simon deserves to have _everything_ and Jace isn’t a part of that future. He can’t comprehend how he thought he ever deserved to be. Simon deserves someone who isn’t afraid, someone who can show affection without fucking it up like Jace does, someone who will adore him and be _reliable_ for him. Jace is none of those things.

He reaches the apartment quicker than normal, taking the last block at almost a run. He jams his key into the lock, cursing loudly when the key doesn’t turn. He feels stupid and small, humiliated for no reason at all.

“ _Fuck_!” He shouts, slamming his hand against the door. “Fuck.” He whispers, quieter.

“ _Jace_!” He hears Alec’s voice call, and he whirls around to face his brother.

“What?” he asks shortly.

“Why did you run off?” Alec asks. “You okay?”

“Fine.” Jace says through gritted teeth, and Alec gives him a look and sighs, but he doesn’t prod. Jace isn’t even sure if he _wants_ Alec to prod. Alec moves to the door and unlocks it, letting them both through. There’s silence through the apartment as Jace sheds his jacket and shoes, slumping onto the sofa.

Alec appears with a bottle of water and hands it to him, and he grunts his thanks as he drinks the whole thing down. They sit next to each other, pensive, until Alec breaks the silence.

“How much did you hear?” Alec asks. Jace shifts uncomfortably, his mouth twisting into a frown as he remembers.

“Just you telling Simon he deserves to be happy.” He looks at Alec and adds “I’m not angry at you or anything. Simon _does_.”

“Then what had you running away?” Alec asks quietly. Jace twists the Herondale ring between his fingers, rubbing his finger against the cool metal.

“ _I_ was the one that said no to him.” Jace says, his voice low. “I hurt him, and everyone else is right - he deserves to be happy with someone else.”

“Jace - “

“And I’m just _so_ angry that I can’t be that person for him.” Jace finishes, clenching his jaw. “It makes me furious at myself.”

“ _Jace_.” Alec sounds exasperated now, and when Jace looks at him Alecs’s got a fond look on his face. “Before you heard us, I told Simon that you hadn’t known what you were doing.”

“I - “

Alec shifts closer to him on the sofa and shakes his head. “Stop beating yourself about it. Simon never wanted you to do anything more than you were comfortable with. You can _still_ make him happy.”

“But he deserves - “ Jace tries, and Alec pinches his arms, hard.

“He deserves _you_.” Alec says. “So go be yourself.”

.

Simon slouches into his seat in musical performance, frowning when he sees that Jace isn’t there. Figures.

He’s not sure what’s going through Jace’s head right now, but he wants to be there for Jace and help him through it - and he would, if it weren’t for the fact that Jace isn’t responding to any calls or messages, and Alec told Simon to ‘give him some time’ when he stopped by the Lightwood apartment.

Everything in Simon is screaming to hold Jace, to comfort him, and God - he really is in love with Jace. Nothing can stop that, apparently.

“Don’t mope so much.” Meliorn says as he slides into the seat next to Simon. “Over one boy, and Jace at that? You can do better.”

“ _That’s_ not the advice we said we’d give him.” Raphael says, sitting down next to Meliorn and looking supremely annoyed. “We discussed this. This - “

“Well it’s _true_ . Have you _seen_ Jace? Isabelle is really the only one - “

“You’re still upset that Jace did better than you in that anthropology class, let it go Meliorn - “

“This has been the best advice I’ve received yet about the whole thing.” Simons says, laughing, even as Raphael scowls at him and Meliorn smiles serenely. “You guys are the best.”

“It’s - oh, he’s here. Good, I wasn’t sure what to say.” Meliorn says, and Simon turns to see Jace walk into class, the last person to come in.

Jace looks unfairly good, like always. It makes a fierce urge rise in Simon to dig his fingers into Jace’s shoulders and never let go, and when Jace looks at him like that, eyes piercing and clear, the emotion in his chest overflows. How can he keep going like this? It’s - _torturous_.

“We’re going to have a shorter class today, everyone,” Luke says, clapping his hands and breaking Simon out of his reverie. Jace is still lounging by the door, fiddling with the strap of his backpack. “We’ve got one last serenade left, and then I’m going to leave early because the game’s been pushed up by half an hour, and I need my players to be ready. We’ll push the group number to Monday. Jace?”

Surprised, Simon turns to see Jace walk forward, tossing his bag in a chair and gripping the mic stand. He’s standing tall and proud, staring right at Simon, and Simon can feel the beginnings of an adrenaline rush thrumming through his veins as everyone shifts around him, throwing little smiles and whispering as they stare at Simon. They all know something he doesn’t.

“This one is for Simon.” Jace says, his voice steady, and Simon lets out a half-whispered _what_ because suddenly _music_ is playing from the speakers, and Jace’s face is open and terribly vulnerable; Simon can’t _breathe_.

“ _I breathe in slow to compose myself,”_ Jace starts, his voice low and rich, his lips turned up at the corners as he looks at Simon, “ _but the beating heart I left on the shelf started speeding round, beating half to death, cause you’re here and you’re - “_ He pauses and closes his eyes, and around Simon everyone else finishes the line, a soft chorus of _all mine_ echoing around the room.

He’s dreaming. He _has_ to be, he thinks, as the sunlight streams into the room suddenly, appearing from behind clouds and making Jace’s golden hair glow like a halo around his face.

“ _So I press my lips down into your neck_ ,” Jace is singing, and Clary and Maia have joined in on harmony now, their voices rising and falling seamlessly through Jace’s tune, “ _and I stay there, and I reconnect - bravery_ \- “

He opens his eyes and looks _straight_ at Simon, and then he shakes his head fondly, singing “ _I’ve been trying to be perfect - it can wait for a while._ ”

Alec’s voice joins in now, accompanying Jace as they sing _scared of the hope in my head, it’s been making me sweat, but it turns out -_ and then Izzy jumps in, her hand tangled loosely with Clary’s as she adds _you’re here with your head on my chest, I should’ve guessed_.

Everyone looks at him, smiling, and Simon bites his lip, his heart thundering his ribcage as Jace breaks out in a helpless smile.

The music swells to a crescendo then, and everyone - even Meliorn and Raphael - chorus “ _The world will turn, and we’ll grow, we’ll learn, how to be,”_ They sweep their hands out, clasping the hands of partners and friends as they all sing “ _to be incomplete.”_

It’s loud, deafening almost, and even Luke is smiling at him. Jace walks towards Simon, his hands in his pockets, not even bothering with a mic as everyone repeats the chorus around them, his voice rising clearly above it all.

“ _I don’t wanna look down_ ,” He sings fiercely, his eyes _alive_ as they fix on Simon’s, “ _I don’t want us to break up in the clouds, all I want is to stay us, to stay with you now._ ”

He’s almost in front of Simon, his voice strong as he repeats the bridge over the rest of the room’s chorus, the music a crashing symphony of guitar and piano twining together to create a sound that’s large and _hopeful_ , warm in the same way Jace’s smile is as he sings to Simon.

Simon stands, half unsure of what he’s going to do, as Jace comes to his seat, and his heart is ready to _fly_ out of his chest as everyone sings, jumping across chairs and matching pitch with each other as best as they can. It’s wild, and raucous, and full of the kind of spirit that only their motley assortment of friends can have; Raj is _breakdancing_ to the song on the floor, egged on by Lydia, but Simon couldn’t care less at the sight of _Jace_ in front of him, genuine and so very _real_. Alec and Izzy have their phones out, filming, and Clary is shooting them both a thumbs up.

“ _And the world will turn,”_ Jace sings, joining in on the last chorus, “ _and we’ll grow, we’ll learn how to be, to be incomplete.”_ Everyone else’s voices fade out, and he continues quietly to Simon, “ _This here now, it’s where we touch down, you and me -_ “

He pauses, exhales, and continues, his voice quiet.

“ _Let’s be incomplete_.”

.

Applause erupts after Jace finishes his song, and someone is wolf-whistling, but all he can look at is Simon, who’s staring at him with wide brown eyes, teeth worrying at his bottom lip. Jace smiles.

“I’m not straight.” He says, and from somewhere behind him he hears Alec and Clary snicker and Magnus sigh, but he shrugs his shoulders and continues. “And I, uh, wanna know if you still want to try this. I _like_ you, more than you could know, and if I can make you happy, I will.” He takes a deep breath, and tries to quell his beating heart.

“Just think about it, okay?” He says, and Simon looks stunned, floored by the revelation.

“Jace - “ He says, but Jace shakes his head and smiles.

“Think about it.” He repeats, and then he’s running down the stairs and grabbing his bag, walking out of the classroom and down the hallway towards the field for the game. He can feel energy pulsing through his blood, like a shot of morphine in his veins, and he’s grinning, unable to stop thinking about Simon.

“ _Hey_ .” Alec calls, and Jace turns to see Alec and Raphael power walking to catch up with him. “Jace, why’d you run away _again_?”

Jace shrugs, fiddles with his ring as he turns and they all keep walking. He’s still smiling, which is probably why Alec and Raphael are looking at him with curiosity and now with worry.

“He shouldn’t say yes to me just because I sang to him.” Jace says. “I just wanted to give him a chance to process it. I know he gets overwhelmed too.”

“You care about him.” Raphael says, a hint of surprise in his voice, and the unspoken _you care that much_ isn’t lost on Jace. Jace nods, and Raphael looks marginally pleased. “It was a good serenade for Simon.”

And hearing those words out loud, that he just _serenaded Simon_ , makes it even more real, the dreamlike quality of his performance slipping away as he giddily remembers how _gorgeous_ and happy Simon had looked, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Jace wants to be the reason for that happiness, and he just - loves Simon so much that he knows this is it. He’d wait, like Simon did, if he had too. Simon is worth it. Simon is worth _everything_.

But he pushes that out of his mind and focuses on the game. It’s slightly nerve-wracking to play, because they’ve worked hard all season and the other team fights dirty, with the refs biased towards them. By the end of the first half Alec has to physically pull Raj away from punching the ref too many times to count, and Raphael is slowly and methodically making his way through every curse word in the Spanish language. Jace, sweating underneath his helmet, looks past the bright stadium lights to where a small group of people are holding a banner that says _Lightwould you win for us?_ and smiles, because he can make out a tiny spec with brown hair that he assumes is Simon. He grins to himself, thumps his teammate on the back, and locks eyes with Alec.

“Let’s _do_ this.” He says.

They play harder, faster, _rougher_ than they’ve played in a long time. Dimly, Jace thinks that if they play like this next year they could probably make it to the championships next year. He’s too busy listening for Alec’s commands and tracking the action around him to think too hard about it though, and he grits his teeth and powers through the ache in his back and left knee. They’re going to fucking win this, they _have_ to -

“And Santiago is _racing_ down the field for the tie-breaking touchdown - will he make it? - _Second_ left on the clock folks - Lightwood blocks an intercept - another one - he’s almost there! Santiago’s almost - TOUCH DOWN!!”

The team _erupts_ into cheers, streaming onto the field to Raphael, who throws his helmet off and actually _grins_ , with teeth, at the enemy team, hissing at them, before he’s hoisted onto the shoulders of their teammates. Jace manages to clap him on the back before the rest of the crowd of fans and teammates swallow him up, and he finds himself by Alec and Raj. They’re _exuberant_ , and they can’t stop laughing and high-fiving each other.

“Look.” Raj says suddenly, shouting, and Jace turns to see Simon making his way onto the field, straight towards them. Jace takes a step forward, his eyes lighting up, and then he hesitates.

“Go get him.” Alec encourages.

Jace _tears_ down the field, his muscles burning as he pushes them past his exhausted limit and runs towards Simon. Simon starts walking faster, half-running, as he sees Jace do so too.

“Jace,” Simon yells, grinning, “you were amazing, it was awesome, _you’re_ \- “

Jace crashes into Simon and sweeps him up, spinning him around in a hug and setting him down. Simon clings to Jace tightly, his hands finding purchase on the back of Jace’s neck, cool against Jace’s overheated skin, and Jace fists his hands in the front of Simon’s shirt, suddenly breathless at the feeling of broad muscle underneath him.

“Yes?” Jace asks, his lips inches from Simon’s. Simon rolls his eyes.

“Yes.” He says firmly, and then he yanks Jace down and Jace pulls him forward and they’re _kissing_ , hard and fast and messy. Simon swipes his tongue against Jace’s lips and Jace instantly parts them, leaning in hungrily, letting Simon _devour_ him, entirely too filthy for the very public football field. He can’t bring himself to care and he doesn’t think Simon can either, by the way that Simon lets out a low groan and slides his hand up to fist in Jace’s hair, yanking out his hasty hair tie and tangling his fingers in the sweaty strands. Simon _pulls_ , and Jace lets out a sharp breath as his head is forced back and Simon skims his teeth over the line of Jace’s jaw, following it with a soft kiss to the underside of his chin -

“Can we keep it PG-13?” a voice asks, and they break apart to see Magnus and the rest of the gang strolling over, all smiling at them.

“Get a room.” Clary heckles cheerfully, and Jace tightens his grip around Simon’s waist.

“Absolutely not. The world is our room.” He says immediately, impatiently blowing away the strands of hair that have begun to fall in his face. Simon absently reaches over and tucks the offending hair behind his ear.

“Oh no.” Alec bemoans as money begins to exchange hands and they all cash in on the betting pool for Jace and Simon. “Oh no no _no_ , you’re going to be _that_ couple.”

“We sure are.” Simon agrees, smacking a kiss on Jace’s cheek. Jace thinks he’ll remember this forever; Simon, looking at him like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than here, holding Jace’s hand.

.

Simon wakes up on Saturday to a warm weight on his shoulder, hair tickling his neck. He rubs his eyes blearily and squints down at the vaguely Jace-shaped blob on his chest, smiling hazily as he strokes his other hand down Jace’s bare back, following the dip and curve of the other man’s spine. Jace makes a noise and nestles deeper into Simon’s shoulder, grumbling.

“It’s almost eleven, we have to go to brunch with your siblings and their significant others.” Simon says as he blindly feels for his glasses on the nightstand and slides them on. Jace comes into sharper focus, eyes crusted with sleep as he screws them shut and tightens his fingers against Simon’s waist.

“They can starve and we can order room service.” Jace mumbles. “And then we can have sex again and again.”

“This is an apartment building, not a hotel, _we’re_ the ones that’ll starve, and we’re _not_ having sex until we study for midterms.” Simon groans, pinching Jace’s arm in retaliation. “Stop trying to be a bad - “

“ _Midterms_.” Jace hisses, and he sits up suddenly in a wild panic, blinking down at a bemused Simon. “It’s Saturday, isn’t it.” Simon sits up too, laughing as he nods, and Jace throws the nearest pillow at him.

“Stop, stop, this bed isn’t big enough for us to have a pillow fight.” Simon manages to get out as he smothers his laughter with the pillow. Jace sighs, looks upward briefly like he’s praying for strength, then takes the pillow from Simon and tosses it to the side, swinging his leg over Simon’s lap and straddling him in one smooth move.

“But it _is_ big enough for other things.” He says, waggling his eyebrows, and Simon grins and leans forward to kiss him, morning breath be damned, unable to help himself, smoothing his thumb across the skin right above the waistband of Jace’s sleep pants. Jace makes a satisfied noise and drags his hand through the hair on Simon’s chest, tracing nonsensical patterns across his stomach.

They kiss for a while, slow and lazy, time seeming to come to a syrupy standstill in the warm morning light as they move together, hands skimming across soft skin. Eventually, Simon pulls away and looks at Jace fondly.

“I still can’t believe this is real, _wow_.” He says, and Jace smirks at him.

“Better believe it, Lewis.” He says, tilting his head and running his thumb across Simon’s lower lip. His expressions changes then, something more serious flitting across his face, and he carefully cradles Simon’s face in his hands. “I’m sorry. For making you wait. It was stupid of me.”

“Not stupid.” Simon says immediately. He draws Jace closer to him, and he sighs happily at the warm feeling of waking up to the sun decorating his boyfriend’s skin like this. “You’ve always been worth the wait.”

“You mean so much to me.” Jace whispers to him, and they’re kissing again, fiercer and deeper, pouring their hearts into it, until their phones ring shrilly with alarms and Magnus yells at them from the living room to get moving. As they’re getting dressed, Simon looks over at Jace and grins.

“But I’m never letting you forget the time you yelled out _I’m straight!!_ to an entire room of people who knew that you were no heterosexual, no sir.” He says, and then yelps as Jace throws another pillow.

“It’s _on_ Lewis.” Jace says, smirking, and then he’s chasing Simon out of the room, and they’re both laughing, and it’s perfect. It’s perfect.

 

**Author's Note:**

> _I'm willing if you call me up -_   
>  _if you ever want to be in love,_   
>  _I'll come around._


End file.
